A series of dramatic photographs from the Dayton Daily News archive documents in gritty black and white the devastation left in Xenia by a 1974 tornado.

— A collection of dramatic photographs from the Dayton Daily News archive documents - in gritty black and white - the devastation a tornado left in Xenia on April 3, 1974.

Gripping images of the 1974 Xenia tornado.

A series of violent tornadoes wreaked havoc in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The system was part of “Super Outbreak,” according to the National Weather Service, which documented 148 tornadoes in 13 states in the eastern United States.

The deadliest twister in the outbreak, an F-5, descended on Greene County, bulldozing a path a half-mile wide. When it was over, 33 people were dead and more than 1,300 were injured.

A mother and daughter run throuhg the rubble that had been their home in the Arrowhead sub division of Xenia Ohio. A second tornado warning had just been given and many of the survivors just ran in panic.Photo by Ed Roberts(Eddie H. Roberts/Dayton Daily Ne)

A black sky looms over homes in a residential neighborhood in a dramatic photograph taken shortly before the tornado touched down. That image, taken moments before the annihilation began, is in sharp contrast to an aerial photo of homes and businesses smashed to the ground the next day.

Expressions, some alarmed and some dazed, are captured on the faces of Xenia residents trying to escape the destruction, giving aid to others, and exploring their ruined town that no longer seemed familiar.

On April 3, 1974 an F-5 tornado tore through the heart of Xenia, killing 33 people and injuring more than 1,300 others. It bulldozed a path more than a half-mile wide, destroying or damaging more than 1,400 buildings, including 1,200 homes, dozens of businesses, 10 churches, and several schools. By the time it lifted into the sky near Cedarville, it left behind more than $100 million of damage in Greene County. DAYTON DAILY NEWS ARCHIVE

Train cars were tossed on their sides, schools and grocery stores were destroyed and limbs were ripped from trees leaving bare and broken trunks.

A photograph of a quaint home, curtains fluttering in the windows, reveals an everyday living room with a couch in front of a television set topped by rabbit ears and books neatly placed on shelves in a second floor bedroom.

The only thing missing from this mundane scene is the exterior wall of the home, ripped off to expose everyday life.

This scene was photographed near Warner Junior High School on April 25, 1974. On April 3, 1974 an F-5 tornado tore through the heart of Xenia, killing 33 people and injuring more than 1,300 others. It bulldozed a path more than a half-mile wide, destroying or damaging more than 1,400 buildings, including 1,200 homes, dozens of businesses, 10 churches, and several schools. By the time it lifted into the sky near Cedarville, it left behind more than $100 million of damage in Greene County. DAYTON DAILY NEWS ARCHIVE

A hand-painted sign, photographed in front of a gutted Warner Junior High School, summed up the resilience of the community, “With the help of the Lord, good friends and hard work, we shall return.”

"We hypothesized that long-term yogurt intake might reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems since some previous small studies had shown beneficial effects of fermented dairy products," the authors wrote in a statement.For the assessment, they pulled from a study that examined 55,000 women, aged 30-55, with high blood pressure, and they looked at another that analyzed 18,000 men, aged 40-75. The participants, which were followed for up to 30 years, completed a questionnaire that asked about their diets and any physician-diagnosed events, like strokes or heart attacks, that might have occurred.

After analyzing the results, they found that higher intakes of yogurt were associated with a 30 percent reduction in risk of cardiac arrest for women and a 19 percent decrease for men.

Furthermore, men and women, who ate more than two servings of yogurt a week had about a 20 percent lower risk of major coronary heart disease or stroke.

“Our results provide important new evidence that yogurt may benefit heart health alone or as a consistent part of a diet rich in fiber-rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains," they said.

While they didn’t note whether one type of yogurt was better than the other or why it could be beneficial, they said the treat may help prevent clogging of the heart’s blood vessels.

"We continue to recommend parents get their children vaccinated even though it's late in the season," Dr. Anne Schuchat told CNN.

Health officials on Friday said about one in every 13 visits to the doctor last week was for fever, cough and other symptoms of the flu. The flu is currently widespread across 47 states except for Oregon, which is reporting local flu activity.

In Massachusetts, there was a slight increase in flu-like illness this past week.Medical professionals continue to encourage people to get the flu vaccine, even though researchers have found it to be 25 to 30 percent effective. To find a flu shot near you visit vaccinefinder.org.

Tonight: Snow has moved out, but lingering moisture means we could see some drizzle or fog at times tonight, said Storm Center 7 Meteorologist Brett Collar. Temperatures will continue to drop tonight and overnight, with lows eventually reaching the upper 20s. Due to the dropping temperatures, an isolated slick spot will be possible on the roads.

﻿Monday: Rain returns to the area, and overall it appears to be a rather soggy day. Highs will be in the middle 40s. Highs will climb to the lower 60s.

Graphic by Storm Center 7 Meteorologist Brett Collar

﻿Tuesday: High temperatures will be near 70 degrees but we’ll have a chance for more rain. Rain and even a few storms will be possible in the evening through early Wednesday morning.

Wednesday: Rain to start the day but clouds will break into the afternoon. Given the amount of rain from Monday through Wednesday, flooding will be possible in some areas. Highs on Wednesday will reach the middle 50s.

﻿Thursday: Mostly cloudy skies with highs expected in the middle to upper 40s.

In celebration of National Jigsaw puzzle day (Jan. 27), the Nordmeyers, owners of Puzzles Plus at The Greene in Beavercreek, began work on a 32,000 piece puzzle.

The puzzle, made by the puzzle and toy company Ravensburger, features a view of Manhattan from the 61st floor of Rockefeller Center. When finished the completed puzzle will be 18 feet wide and 6½ feet tall.

Steve said that this puzzle used to hold the world record for largest puzzle, but it has recently been outdone by another puzzle by the same company, a 40,000 piece work that is a collection of 10 Disney cartoon images.

The view of Manhattan puzzle is divided into eight bags that map to a different section of the overall puzzle. “This makes the task of completing it, while still daunting, more manageable. Instead of 32,000 pieces scattered about, we get to attack a 4,000 piece puzzle eight times in a row,” said Steve.

Steve says that they plan to hold morning sessions with coffee and donuts at 9 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month to help move the project along. He said he would be thrilled if the project were completed by October but says that might be a bit ambitious.

When completed, the puzzle will hang along the back wall of their store at The Greene, giving the illusion from the street that the back of the store has a window overlooking a huge city.

Steve works as the principle software engineer for DRS Technologies. Lisa doespersonal care aid for Graceworks at Home.

They purchased the 22-year old Beavercreek business Puzzles Plus last February. The original location is at 1273 N. Fairfield Road, Beavercreek. They opened its second location in The Greene in July.

Outside of their business the Nordmeyers are actively involved in sharing their love of a solving puzzles of all kinds within their own family and the community. Steve said after watching the movie “National Treasure” he decided to create two large-scale, multi-day scavenger hunts called Nordmeyer Treasure for his daughters.

“It challenged them at all levels and was so much fun to put together that I documented their progress online for our friends and family to follow,” said Steve.

The idea eventually morphed into an “Amazing Race” TV show-style challenge that Steve developed as a team-building exercise for the Ankeney Middle School Show Choir.

“The choir would break into teams to solve clues that would take them to a series of locations such as businesses, parks and public buildings, where they would have to perform some task in order to get the clue to the next location. The whole family helps organize and plan these events.”

In addition to this the Nordmeyers also run local trivia evenings for the Ankeney Art Department and eighth-grade classes. Steve said, “Beef O’Brady’s works with us to let us run the event at their restaurant, and they donate a percentage of the sales that day to the groups, as well. We run several rounds of multimedia trivia for a few hours, giving away a cash grand prize and many door prizes donated by local businesses.”

As far as future jigsaw puzzle ambitions go, the Nordmeyers said that although they don’t to do a puzzle on this scale every year, they will have events for the public to participate in throughout the year including a puzzle building contest and game nights where they will showcase some of the games they sell and events involving trivia contests.